PathogenDx, USDA-ARS Partner to Develop Test for High-Pathogenicity Salmonella

Salmonella invading a human cell — Image credit: U.S. NIAID via Unsplash

PathogenDx has entered into a five-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) to develop and evaluate a molecular assay for detecting Salmonella strains associated with increased risk of human illness.

Under the agreement, PathogenDx and researchers at USDA-ARS' U.S. Meat Animal Research Center will collaborate to incorporate seven Salmonella gene targets identified through ARS research into PathogenDx's existing SeroX D3 Array platform. The goal of the resulting research assay, named SeroX-HPS, is to enable the rapid identification of Salmonella strains carrying molecular markers associated with increased pathogenicity or invasiveness.

The five-year agreement, effective September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2031, establishes a collaborative research program, titled, "Incorporating ARS Highly Pathogenic Salmonella Gene Targets into the SeroX D3 Array Test to Create the SeroX-HPS Test." This agreement establishes an independent research relationship between USDA-ARS and PathogenDx and does not constitute USDA endorsement or recommendation of the company's products or services.

Supporting Food Safety Decision-Making

Salmonella enterica is a leading cause of gastrointestinal illness in the U.S. and worldwide. With more than 2,500 Salmonella serotypes, conventional presence-or-absence testing does not distinguish between strains that may pose different levels of public health concern.

Identifying genetic markers associated with strains of greater public health concern could help food producers make more informed decisions regarding product disposition, process controls, and interventions.

The project will evaluate the resulting assay's potential applications in relevant food matrices, including chicken, turkey, pork, and beef, with the broader objective of improving the identification of Salmonella strains associated with human illness and outbreaks.

Incorporating Salmonella Virulence-Associated Gene Targets

The agreement builds on previous ARS research that identified seven molecular targets associated with Salmonella serotypes linked to invasive disease and human illness: sseK2, sseK3, gtgA/gogA, avrA, lpfB, sspH2, and spvD.

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The research will evaluate the incorporation of these targets, as well as potential additional markers identified during the collaboration, into PathogenDx's SeroX platform.

PathogenDx's SeroX platform uses the company's D3 Array technology to simultaneously analyze multiple Salmonella targets. The existing assay incorporates detection of 16 Salmonella serotypes using a three-dimensional array format in a single well.

The Food Safety Magazine editorial team comprises Bailee Henderson, Director of Content Strategy and news editor ✉, and Adrienne Blume, M.A., Director of Editorial and Industry Engagement.